1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new 2-(2,2-dihalovinyl)-3,3-dimethylcyclopropane derivatives and to a process for the preparation of these derivatives.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Certain substituted cyclopropanecarboxylates are an important class of pesticides called "pyrethroids", which are of considerable interest because of their quick knock-down activity, low persistence as toxic residues and their low mammalian toxicity. However, the acid moiety of these pyrethroids has heretofore been fairly expensive to manufacture in the large scale quantities for agricultural and domestic applications.
The hereinafter described process of the invention and new intermediates provide a method for obtaining desired pyrethroids from 3-carene, which is an inexpensive, readily available, natural terpene found in numerous varieties of pine trees.